There are so many fun things to make with felted pom poms. We’ve always been drawn to these whimsical yet functional felted pom pom coasters.
If you’ve been following our blogs, you know how to make felted wool pom poms and are halfway to knowing how to make felted pom pom coasters. No worries if you haven’t learned how to make wool pom poms. Just hop on over to our DIY Wool Pom Poms blog. Or look online for a wide selection of colors and sizes.
STEP 1: Place a dot of glue in the middle of your canvas coaster and then press your first pom pom firmly down on the hot glue dot. Hold the pom pom down until the glue cools slightly and the pom pom stays in place.
STEP 2: Select your next 4 pom poms, then place a line of hot glue on the canvas circle.
Hold them all firmly down, tightly together against the first pom pom. Allow the glue to cool a bit so that the 4 pom poms are securely attached to each other.
STEP 3: Select 2 more pom poms to complete the middle portion of the coaster, forming a flowerlike shape. Place a line of hot glue on the canvas circle and press the 2 pom poms into place, holding firmly until the glue has cooled a bit.
STEP 4: Continue connecting pom poms side by side until you have the canvas circle almost completely covered. To finish the last row, place a bead of glue onto one pom pom at a time to carefully press against the row of pom poms you just glued on. Each pom pom will rest partially on the canvas circle, pressed against a pom pom, and partially off, which will mostly hide the canvas underneath.
STEP 5: Let your first coaster dry while you complete the rest of your set.
Make a larger size with a cork base, to use as a colorful trivet
Give them as a gift with a set of mugs and some tea.
We haven’t run out of ideas for other fun things to make with pom poms. Watch out for future posts where we’ll explore home décor items you can easily make.
If you walked into a store and spotted a basket overflowing with colorful, fuzzy things, would you be tempted to pick one up, figure out what it was, and try to make your own? Me too! In fact, that’s exactly what I did 20 years ago.
My husband and I had been making artisanal soap in our country kitchen for a few years and we had tons of leftover soap scraps. They were completely fine to use, but not sellable in their lopsided condition and we didn’t want them to go to waste. So, what to do with all the uneven leftover pieces? I tried grating them down and forming them into balls shaped around lengths of jute cording to make soap-on-a-rope. People laughed at these lumpy creations, so I went back to the drawing board.
That’s when I walked into a local, hand goods store and discovered a basket full of colorful fuzzy things. Being a lover of all things handmade, especially products made with wool, I picked up one of these wonderful, fragrant felted balls and realized that it was soap. Aha! Maybe this was the solution to recycling our soap scraps.
In case you haven’t heard of felted soap before, it’s a bar of soap that has been encased in layers of felted wool — like a soap and washcloth all-in-one! You can use it to gently exfoliate your skin and make your soap last longer, replacing a washcloth or loofah in the shower.
Why would you use a felted soap instead of a soap and washcloth or loofah?
I wanted to support the craftswoman who created these beautiful, fuzzy soaps, but my creative nature compelled me to try to figure out how to make my own. There weren’t many people making felted soap at that time — or at least I couldn’t find instructions online — so I bought one and deconstructed it. With the help of a friend and fiber artist, we figured out how to create our own version of felted soap. We shaped the soap scraps into a sphere and then began wrapping wool roving around the soap to cover the entire surface before felting. It was awkward at first, but I was determined to learn this new craft and eventually developed my own technique.
Thousands of felted soaps later — and no scraps wasted — I’m excited to share my technique with you! Whether you’ve always wanted to learn how to make your own felted soap or you’re just learning about these amazing fuzzy things, my kit and How to Make Felted Soap instructions will walk you through the process from start to finish. I know you will enjoy creating that perfect gift (for yourself or a loved one), helping your children make their first felted soaps, or providing kits as an activity for your child’s upcoming birthday party where the guests can make the perfect little party favors.
GET YOUR FELTED SOAP KIT
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We’re rounding the corner into that busy time of year when you may be racking your brain to come up with the most wonderful, original gift ideas. Luckily, you still have time on your side.
Surely you and everyone on your list could use some stress relief and relaxation. We may not be able to visit spas in person, but we can still surprise and delight someone on our list with a spa-like experience. Give a gift basket, filled with locally made lotions, lip balm, massage oil, and soap – like our artisanal cold process soap, infused with fragrant scents of the season, that add a festive touch to your bath and leave skin feeling soft and smooth.
We’ve talked a little bit about the beneficial healing effects of essential oils in an earlier blog. Now we want to tell you about the reminiscent aromas of the essential oil blends we use in six of our handmade soaps that conjure up special memories of winter festivities.
Cinnamon Oat - Cinnamon leaf oil – like the cinnamon sticks we float in hot cider or use as a straw to sip up hot cocoa – stimulates circulation and reduces stress. No wonder so many of our baked goods are spiced with cinnamon during this time of year.
Lavender - The everpresent calming balm of lavender – a dreamy reminder of gentle summer breezes lingering in the months to come – is always welcomed in stressful times and promotes and encourages relaxation.
Lavender Mint - Lavender and peppermint – evocative of cheerful candy canes filling containers, peeking from stockings and dancing on your tree – simultaneously provide a relaxing balm and a needed boost of energy.
Lemon Ginger - Lemon, bergamot, orange, grapefruit, clary sage, and ginger – adding slices of lemon and ginger and breathing in the warming aroma as you sip a fresh brewed cup of hot Earl Grey tea – reduce anxiety and stress, and revitalize energy.
Doesn’t this make your mouth water? Raise a glass and share your holiday cheer – indulge yourself, your bestie, mom, dad, sister, brother or special someone.
Our bar soap and felted soaps (both Classic + Striped) make great stocking stuffers or hostess gifts! Make sure in your order that there is one for you too.
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Nature generously provides a myriad of collectable treasures all year round. We just couldn’t resist filling our pockets to the brim with the fallen acorns scattered all about the trail on our brisk morning walks.
If you’ve been following our blogs, you know how to make wool pom poms and are halfway to knowing how to make these irresistible and easy to make felted acorns. No worries if you haven’t learned how to make wool pom poms. Just hop on over to our DIY Wool Pom Poms blog.
STEP 1: Follow steps 1-6 of our DIY Wool Pom Poms blog.
STEP 2: Rinse and squeeze out any excess soap and water from your finished pom poms. You can shape the tips by holding onto one side of the wet pom pom and pinching the tip of the other side of each pom pom.
STEP 3: Lay wet and shaped pom poms out to dry.
STEP 4: Squeeze hot glue into acorn caps and push is dry pom poms, holding the pointed end.
STEP 5: Make as many as you’d like, then use them to embellish a wreath
Enliven your table decor
Glue felted acorns to the stem of an uncarved pumpkin
Display in a geode bowl, basket or a vase
Make this fun sorting game
Watch out for our holiday posts where we explore other fun things to make with pom poms.
Oh what fun to hang festive and colorful handmade garlands on your holiday tree, adorn the banister of your bed, or use as decorations for your upcoming engagement party, baby shower, or birthday party. If you followed our DIY Wool Pom Poms blog, you already know how to make the pom poms. It’s so easy! If you’d rather buy premade pom poms, there are a myriad of choices online.
Once you get the hang of making these garlands, you’ll be tempted to make them for every occasion and be able to add just the right finishing touches in your curated color palette.
***To make a 10’ garland you’ll need about 60 pom poms***
STEP 1: Cut a 3 ½ yards length of string. This ensures enough extra length to make loops on either end of your garland with a finished length of about 10’.
STEP 2: Make a loop at one end by wrapping the cut length of string around the palm of your hand, slipping off and knotting at one end. Set aside.
STEP 3: If you want to arrange your pom poms ahead of time, place each color in a small pile or bowl in the order you want to string them, or just have fun randomly selecting colors as you go.
STEP 1: Thread your needle and push the needle through the center of your first pom pom. The needle should go through fairly easily, but you can use a thimble to protect your fingers if you need to push harder.
Pull the pom pom all the way down to the loop at the end of your length of string.
STEP 2: To ensure that your pom pom doesn’t slip back and forth, run a tiny stitch through the top of the pom pom where you just pulled the string through and knot it to hold in place.
STEP 3: Now select your next pom pom and push your needle through the center, pulling the string all the way through the pom pom until it almost reaches the previous pom pom. Lay the string down and hold three fingers between the first pom pom and the next to establish even spacing.
Then run a tiny stitch through the top of the pom pom and knot just as before in step 2.
STEP 4: Continue steps 1-3 until you’ve strung all your pom poms and come to almost the end of your string, leaving about 12”.
STEP 5: Finish off your garland by making another loop.
Now comes the fun part! Where will you hang your garland? Maybe you want to hang sentimental cards or photos in a central location in your home, adorn your mantle to add extra cheer, or gift someone special with your handmade creation. Have fun making multiple strands and tying them together so you can span a large space.
There are so many creative ways to use your handmade pom poms. In future posts, we’ll explore other fun things to craft with your pom poms.
If you’ve ever gone for a walk with a child, you know there is a treasure to be found every few feet. There are rocks, twigs, leaves, feathers and flowers that must be pocketed and brought home.
Every single find is precious and coveted in that moment. They hand each piece to you and pretty soon your hands are spilling over. The irresistible expressions of delight, excitement and even pride on their faces at every discovery discourage you from quickly tossing them aside when they’re not looking.
Some of us never outgrow our fascination and thrill of searching for the abundant treasures that nature so generously provides.
It’s pretty hard to pass up an entire beach decorated with sand dollars
a rolling trail scattered with bright red manzanita berries, a recent rain collage of spongy moss, finely smoothed pieces of driftwood expertly polished by years of wind, sand and salty waves, one special eucalyptus button beckoning to you.
My dear friend started collecting heart rocks many years ago — one rock found during her weekend jaunts through the woods, one along a forest trail, another found on her trek through the Irish countryside, another during a visit to the beach.
What do you do with the piles of treasures once you’ve brought them home? You can encourage the collector to select her favorites and have a display bowl available, or offer a nature table to display the finds of the season, or simply display them on a windowsill.
Go on a treasure hunt to your local thrift store or an estate sale where you can often find vintage mason jars and other glass containers.
Remember there’s a story, a fond memory tucked in with each prized wonder. Make sure to set aside time to reminisce and marvel over your collections — that brightly colored feather found peaking out from under a tuft of grass, the one piece of polished blue sea glass found on a beach covered with white and green sea glass, the lacy skeleton leaf expertly designed by an insect.
What do you like to collect? And what is the story behind each piece you found?
]]>Did you know that you can make colorful pom poms of any size — from mini, pea-sized pom poms to dryer balls — with scraps of wool? It’s so easy! All you have to do is wind your pieces of wool into a soft ball, dip into hot, soapy water, and gently roll into shape with your hands.
Once you get the hang of making your pom poms, you’ll be able to string them together to make festive garlands, fun little cat toys, pretty necklaces and earrings, or sew them together to create caterpillars and more!
STEP 1: Lay out your towel and bowl of hot, soapy water on your work surface.
STEP 2: Take a length of wool roving, stretch it out by holding one end and gently pulling on it every few inches to lengthen the fibers, and loosely knot it in the middle. For smaller pom poms, you will want to split your roving into thinner, shorter strips lengthwise.
STEP 3: Wrap the loose ends of the roving, one at a time, around the knot of wool, making sure to rotate 90° each time.
STEP 4: Take another piece of stretched roving — or a few different colors of roving to create a more marbled look — and wrap around the ball that you are now forming.
STEP 5: Keep wrapping until the pom pom measures about twice the size of your desired finished product.
***If you want to make multiple pom poms approximately the same size, follow steps 1–4 and lay them all side-by-side to compare before moving onto the next step.***
STEP 6: Once you’ve formed all of your pom poms, dip and soak them, one at a time, in your hot, soapy water. Then gently toss each pom pom back and forth between your hands, without squeezing or pressing, to allow the wool fibers to attach to each other without clumping. The soggy wool will seem like it’s never going to form into a tight little ball, but I promise it will. Keep tossing it gently back and forth and occasionally dipping it back into the hot water as it cools.
STEP 7: After about 10 minutes, your pom pom will start to harden. Now you can roll it between your palms and don’t forget to dip it into your hot water when it feels cool. At this stage, the wool will begin to shape into a ball and start to shrink. Once you’ve reached the desired size, rinse your pom pom in cool water, squeeze out all the moisture, and set aside to dry for up to 2 days.
You’ve now successfully crafted a pom pom! High five for learning this fun, new technique!
Go ahead and finish the rest of the wool pom poms you may have set aside. And once dry, they’ll be ready to craft into a garland or a myriad of other colorful handmade treasures. Stay tuned — in posts to come, we’ll explore other fun things to make with your pom poms.
We know you want the best for your health and wellbeing. Did you know there are more benefits to using handmade soap than just the cleansing aspect? But before we get to that …
When shopping for food, you look for organic, locally grown produce and carefully check ingredients on boxes of dry goods. What about attention and care of your skin — our largest organ? Most of us have been using the same soap for years. When ticking soap off our grocery list, we probably habitually reach for our go-to bar of soap without checking the ingredients. Soap is soap — right?!?
Commercially made soap contains chemicals, hardening agents, synthetic lathering agents and cheap chemically derived fragrances that are harsh and drying to your skin. The first three ingredients in a popular commercial bar of soap are sodium lauroyl isethionate, stearic acid, lauric acid. Handmade soap by comparison contains only oils, water, lye and naturally occurring glycerin, all of which are moisturizing and gentle to your skin. When using handmade soap, you’re essentially feeding your skin healthy oils and glycerin, which attracts moisture from the air and keeps your skin hydrated.
If you look at the last ingredients in a bar of handmade soap, you’ll often see a list or blend of essential oils (the magical ingredient included) — oils derived from the distillation of plants that retain the natural fragrance or essence of the plant.
When first taking a whiff of a bar of our lavender soap, you’re actually taking in the collective aroma of half a bush of lavender flowers. To fragrance a full batch of our soap, it takes 29 bushes of distilled lavender flowers.
When essential oils are inhaled they may stimulate your sense of smell, have medicinal effects when absorbed, or be beneficial for various health issues. They can actually be a very powerful healing tool when used properly in the right amounts, effecting everything from inflammation to your moods to your appetite and more. For instance the lavender essential oil we use in our Lavender soap promotes relaxation and treats anxiety, fungal infections, allergies, depression, insomnia, and eczema.
It is important to remember that essential oils are extremely concentrated and not meant to be used directly on your skin. You can make a dilution of 2 to 3 drops of lavender essential oil to at least 2 teaspoons melted coconut oil. Keep a container of diluted lavender oil handy to apply to your face to unclog pores and reduce inflammation after washing, or to prevent wrinkles. Or apply that same dilution to burns a few times a day to help alleviate pain and swelling. Better yet, combine a quarter cup of aloe vera juice, 2 tablespoons of distilled water, 10 to 12 drops of lavender oil and jojoba oil in a glass spray bottle, shake and spray onto your sunburn, or create a sanctuary in your home with a few spritz’s to bring a sense of calm. This is just scratching the surface of the myriad of uses, combinations and attributes of essential oils. Look for future blogs to read about the healing properties of many of our other soap blends.
The next time you shop for your bar of soap and see the magic ingredient - essential oils - you’ll know that your soap not only cleanses you, but feeds and nourishes your skin, mind, body, and spirit.
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When first discovering a bar of our luxurious, handmade felted soap, you’ll probably be excited and want to try it out right away. Maybe you set aside a quiet evening to relax in a nice warm bath — lights dimmed, candles lit, soft music playing in the background, a glass of bubbly or a cup of herbal tea, and your new, aromatic felted soap in hand. You quickly dip your felted soap into the water and expect it to lather up immediately like a regular bar of soap, but not much soap comes through the felted wool.
PAUSE — Your felted soap needs a little coaxing at first to get that wonderful lather working. Before you try it out in the bath or shower, soak your new felted soap in a bowl of hot water overnight. This will help soften the hard, cured bar of soap encased inside the wool covering.
After soaking your felted soap overnight, remove it from the bowl of water and knead it a few times. The suds will start to appear and now you’re ready to use your felted soap for its duration.
PLAY — You dip your nicely soaked felted soap into your bath water, knead it a bit and enjoy the rich lather, the aromatic wafts of the natural essential oils, and the gentle exfoliating experience of the wool casing.
Let’s face it, most of us don’t usually have time to take a nice long bath, but you can still pamper yourself during your shower ritual with your newly purchased and pre-soaked felted soap. Just soak it under the shower water for a few seconds, knead it to coax out the soap suds and rub gently on your skin. Easy peasy!
Remember, each time you use your felted soap in the shower or bath, make sure to wring it out between uses and store it away from resting water to prevent molding.
Time to treat yourself to your favorite fragrances and colors — or better yet, treat yourself and a loved one!
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